Brook is set for an Indian summer in one-day side
IN-FORM Yorkshire batter Harry Brook has been named in England’s squads for their Twenty20 and one-day international series against India later this month.
Matt Parkinson has also been drafted in as fellow leg-spinner Adil Rashid will miss both series after being given permission by the England and Wales Cricket Board to make The Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
Uncapped seamer Richard Gleeson is included for the T20 series, Jos Buttler’s first assignment as England’s limited-overs captain following Eoin Morgan’s international retirement earlier this week.
While Buttler is not able to call upon Ben Stokes or Jonny Bairstow for three T20s from July 7-10 due to their Test commitments, the duo and Joe Root are available for the three ODIs from July 12-17.
Morgan stepping down means England will need to modify their plans for the T20 World Cup which starts in Australia on October 16 - but Brook’s recall shows they have a conveyor belt of batting talent.
The 23-year-old’s international experience is limited to one T20 against the West Indies in Barbados in January but he is excelling against the red and white ball this season.
He is averaging a titanic 115.75 in the LV= Insurance County Championship and 48 in the Vitality Blast with a lofty 169.16 strike-rate.
With several quicks either on the sidelines, including Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Saqib Mahmood, or in the early stages of a return, like Chris Woakes and Olly Stone, England have also turned to Gleeson.
The 34-year-old is second in the wicket-taking charts in this year’s T20 Blast with 20 dismissals at 16.1 in 12 matches which havehelped put Lancashire on course for the knockout stages.
While Dawid Malan is in the T20 squad, he does not retain his place in the ODI group despite a century in the 3-0 win over the Netherlands last month.
Left-armers David Payne and Luke Wood also miss out.
There is no room in either squad for wicketkeeper Sam Billings while Hampshire duo James Vince and Liam Dawson, Somerset opener Tom Banton and Sussex all-rounder George Garton are absent as well.